An Arizona man was trying to teach his girlfriend's daughter a lesson when he sent a nude photo of the teenager to 38 contacts listed in the girl's phone, investigators say.

Police arrested Eugene Foster, of San Tan Valley, after the 31-year-old allegedly found a nude photograph of the child on her phone and became irate, 3TV-Phoenix reports.

"They get into a fight and during that discussion boyfriend decides I'm going to teach you a lesson I'm going to send this out to 30 plus contacts on her phone and that's what he did," said Elias Johnson, spokesman for the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, according to Fox News.

Dana Hawman, Florence Unified School District director of public relations, said that authorities are not certain which students received the photograph.

"We do not know who all of those contacts were, and cannot assume that they were restricted to any one school or grade level," Hawman said, according to KPHO. "In fact, we believe some of these contacts were parents."

The district promptly distributed a message urging parents to explain to their children that "sharing nude photos of minors via text, email or Interent is in violation of child pornography laws. If you or your child has received this or similar messages, please delete immediately."

The Pinal County Sheriff's Office, however, says that people should not delete the photo, and instead should immediately contact the department at 1-800-420-8689, KPHO reports.

Foster is charged with sexual exploitation of a minor. He remains in Pinal County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.